


Even If We Are To Be Punished & Cursed...

by CherryPopz



Series: Fairy Tail Rewrite [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Adultery, Angel Wings, Blood, Canon Rewrite, Chains, Curses, Demons, F/F, F/M, Other, Punishment, Re-Naming Characters, Unnamed Characters Get Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-23 14:20:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30056781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryPopz/pseuds/CherryPopz
Summary: An ancient tale of warning has been spread throughout the Celestial Spirit World, as a warning of human kind. This story, however, may not be as old and made up as first expected.
Relationships: Jackal & Seliah (Fairy Tail), Kyouka/Seilah (Fairy Tail), Larcade Dragneel & Kyouka (Fairy Tail), Larcade Dragneel & Zeref Dragneel, Mard Geer Tartarus & Kyouka (Fairy Tail), Natsu Dragneel & Seliah (Fairy Tail), Natsu Dragneel & Zeref Dragneel, Seirei-oo | Celestial Spirit King/Aquarius (Fairy Tail), Zeref Dragneel/Aquarius (Fairy Tail)
Series: Fairy Tail Rewrite [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2214459
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Even If We Are To Be Punished & Cursed...

“Tell me, something, Anna.” Aquarius mumbled, watching as the Dragons played lazily with their adopted foster children.   
Anna looked up at the Celestial Spirit in shock. This was the first time she had ever heard the royal blue mermaid speak freely. She had only spoken a few words when she signed her contract with Anna, and then she remained silent. Even when prompted by her owner, she only nodded or pointed in response. 

It was honestly worrying too Anna. She was the first mortal in the human world to have been given a Celestial Key from the King of the other world, Odine. She wasn’t sure how Celestial beings were supposed to act, but King Odine had told her that Aquarius was fine, just adjusting to her new life as a Spirit. 

Apparently, the Celestial world was running lower on spirits, and thus needed to borrow from the Human world. King Odine had created 12 Golden keys that would take the lives of fallen, powerful wizards from the Human world and made them into Celestial Spirits. He called them The Zodiac, naming them after the grandest constellations of the night sky. These Spirits were stronger than the regular Silver keys, retaining some of the magic that they had when they were human, and were each given 12 lives. When each Zodiac “died” 12 times, they would reincarnate into the next worthy wizard from Earthland.

Anna had no idea what adapting to something like that would be, but she didn’t blame Aquarius for not wanting to talk about her old life. No matter what Anna thought, the truth was that Aquarius was once a human, but had died and was reincarnated into a Celestial spirit. 

She didn’t want to pry into who Aquarius once was, but the large four stitched up scars down the back of the mermaid was hard not to look at. Two were located between her shoulder blades, trailing down to right below the middle of her back, that was where the second scars met them. The scars looked fresh, and Anna could tell that Aquarius was in pain whenever she moved.   
King Odine had said that the Zodiac shouldn’t carry the scars of their past lives, but Aquarius’s certainly stayed from the transition of human to spirit. Anna wished that Aquarius would talk to her, but she knew that prying would only make things worse.   
“Yes?” Anna asked, trying her best to make herself seem relaxed, but she set down the scarf that she was working on in her lap to show her Spirit that she was listening. 

“Did Odine tell you the story of the Black Veiled Bride?” 

“Can you tell me how it goes?” Aquarius asked, looking over her shoulder at the blonde woman. 

“Well,” Anna cleared her throat, much like she had done when the Dragon’s children asked for a bedtime story, “The legend goes that there was an Angel, the Bride of the Arch-Angel, who had fallen from grace. She spent her days wandering the Earth back before the barrier between Humans and Spirits was allowed, causing mischief and mayhem everywhere she went. She brought with her the treasures of Heaven, tempting humans to sin. She brought the Seven Deadly Sins to Earth and was punished. She was cast away from the Spirit World, left to die in the Human world.” 

“What?” 

Anna realized that she had lost herself in the story, allowing the Dragon’s children in earshot of the story. 

“I don’t like that story!” Wendy cried, bawling up her fists to rub at the tears streaming down her face. “It’s scary!”

“Yeah!” Gajeel growled, kicking at the tree stump Anna sat on, “Stories are supposed to have happy endings!” 

“Stupid, naïve brats.” Aquarius muttered, her body shaking. 

“Aquarius!” Anna rose to her feet, but barely had the chance to grab Sting and Rogue before Aquarius held Gajeel and Wendy in her hands. Her fingers were gripping at their throats, causing the children to cough and gasp for air. 

“You best let them down!” Metalicana warned, beginning to raise to their own feet, the shackled scales across their back rising in anger. 

“” Happy endings?’” Aquarius spat, “There is no such things!” 

“Aquarius, let them down!” Anna shouted, drawing the Golden Key of Aquarius’s. 

A golden outline surrounded the Spirit, before completely engulfing her. She dropped the children as she screamed out in agony, forcing her to the ground as she twitched in pain. 

Despite the outburst, Wendy reached towards Aquarius with her small white hand, summoning a bit of her Dragonslayer magic to heal the screaming Spirit, but was pulled away by Gajeel. 

The painful curse only lasted around 30 seconds, but it was enough to force Aquarius back into the Spirit world to recover. She disappeared in a poof of golden dust, leaving Anna sobbing on the ground.   
  
A couple of hours later, Aquarius laid alone in her Constellation’s temple, soaking in the holy water. She watched as the water beneath her grew red with the blood leaking down from her scars across her back. The holy water burned at the tender skin and she wondered if the pain from the loss of her wings would ever truly fade. 

Of course not, she realized, tracing a finger against the edge of the cut as she forced her back underneath the water again. Odine wanted it to be a permanent reminder of her betrayal. It would haunt her for the rest of eternity. 

“So that is the story he spread?” She whispered to herself. The true story of the Black Veiled Bride, Aquarius knew all too well.

* * *

In the year X405, Aquarius had finally had enough of her curiosity of the Human world below, and she flew down as soon as she was done with her husband’s monthly visit, knowing that he would be done with her for the time being. 

The Human world was loud and scary. Aquarius hadn’t expected the overstimulation she got from the rushed lives of the humans. The people were rude and disgusting, shoving and touching Aquarius from all directions. 

It wasn’t long before Aquarius found herself on the ground behind a building where she caught her breath. She couldn’t believe that this was the human world she had dreamed of for so long. 

“Excuse me, are you alright?” A voice asked, causing Aquarius to look up in fear of what was to come next. 

A young man with black hair and piercing green eyes stood over her, holding out a hand for her to grab. 

Just looking at him, Aquarius’s doubts and sudden disdain for the human vanished without a second thought. He was the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes upon. 

His eyes were piercing, yes, but they were different from all the other humans Aquarius had made eye contact with. They shined with something that Aquarius couldn’t name. It was something that made the lights of most eyes duller, but his were only more enlightened. They were somehow soft and bright at the same time, looking as if they were on the verge of leaking tears even though he was smiling kindly down at her. 

And that smile... It was the kindest she had ever seen, both in the Celestial world and on Earth. His teeth were bright and perfectly aligned, his lips curled into the smallest hint of dimples at the sides. 

Aquarius felt her face grow hot and she reached up to touch her skin, but her hand slowly crashed with the hand of the human in front of her. 

“Are you sick?” He asked, his fingers barely brushing past Aquarius’s on her cheek before he placed his palm against her forehead.

“I-I-I, uhh...” Aquarius tried desperately to speak, but her mouth grew dry as her tongue began to move. She just now noticed that his cheeks and nose were dotted with brown freckles. 

“You don’t feel hot, but I should probably check you out just to be safe.” The man went on, once again gesturing for her to take his soft hands. “Can you stand?” He asked. 

“Y-yes.” Aquarius finally formed the words, and she slowly took his hand. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her, holding onto her shoulders. 

Aquarius wanted to tell him that she could walk fine on her own, but her knees felt wobbly and weak. 

He led her to a small temple-like outdoors's building where he helped her sit down. “Are you feeling sick?” He asked. 

“Are you a doctor?” Aquarius asked, her breath caught as she pictured what might have been going on. She had heard some of the Silver spirits talking about them, they were humans who studied bodies and found ways to heal humans that were ill or were injured. 

  
“I know enough,” The man replied with a small smile, “But you didn’t answer my question.” 

“Ohh!” Aquarius’s face grew hot again and she started to pull away from him but found herself leaning into his touch as his hand found its way onto her forehead once more. “Well, I-I-I feel hot, my stomach feels weird, and my legs feel weak.” She stuttered out. 

  
“Have you eaten today?” The man asked, tapping on her knee, causing her leg to jet out subconsciously. 

“No?” She blinked before realizing he didn’t know she wasn’t human. 

“Well, that and the summer heat,” The man pulled away and drew his arm across his forehead, wiping at water that had formed on his skin, “You probably just need some food and water.” 

“Yeah, sure.” She nodded, before looking around her. “Where did you bring me?” 

“The church’s cemetery.” The man replied, digging into a bag that Aquarius hadn’t noticed he had on his back. “I was heading here anyways, so I figured we could check you out real quick.” 

“What’s a ‘cemetery?’” Aquarius asked, watching him pull out three bunches of flowers tied together, and a box of something she couldn’t make out. 

He looked at her with his brightly dull eyes and a small smile on his lips before it twisted into confusion as he realized she meant it.   
“Seriously?” He asked. 

Aquarius nodded slowly. 

He motioned for her to follow him. They walked through the ‘cemetery’ were Aquarius made note of the strange decorations on the ground. There were plates made of stone with names and numbers carved into them. 

They stopped in front of three of the plates and the man bent over and placed the three bundle of flowers on the grass next to each plate. 

_Mitya Dragneel—March 2, X364—July 7, X399_

_Katsumi Dragneel—September 11, X365—July 7, X399_

_Natsu Dragneel—November 24, X395—July 7, X399_

“Why are there numbers on the stone?” Aquarius asked, squinting at the dates.

“It’s my family.” The man frowned, looking at her with an odd expression. “They died when I was 12, dragon raid.” 

“Died?” She asked, looking at him with a child-like confusion, “What does that mean?”

"I tried to help you, and you repay by mocking them." The man whispered.

"Excuse me?"

“Why are you doing this?” He asked, tears forming in his eyes as his body trembled. “Why are you mocking my family?”

“That’s not-” Aquarius tried to explain, but the man turned to leave. Using her unhuman strength, she grabbed at his arm and pulled him back. 

“What are you?” He asked, his body sinking into a black and purple puddle that appeared on the ground, only to reappear slowly a couple of yards away. 

“You’re a wizard?” Aquarius gasped, growing hot in the face once more. 

“Answer the question!” He spat, “You’re not a wizard, I can tell that much. So then what are you? Are you a Dragon?” His voice shook and his beautiful face was twisted upwards. His black eyebrows were raised and pulled together. His jaw was dropped slightly and his lips were pulled downwards and to the side. His eyes were leaking tears, but he had magic swirling around his outstretched hand. 

“No! I swear!” Aquarius took a couple steps away from him, looking around the ‘cemetery’ before looking back at the trembling wizard. “I really shouldn’t tell you this...” She muttered. 

“Tell me what?” He asked, drawing his fists closer to him, not dropping his guard but relaxing slightly. 

“I’m an Angel.” She stated bluntly. 

The man looked at her with a confused look before he turned his back to her fully. “Stop wasting my time. Get out of my family’s gravesite.” 

“No, please!” She cried, “I can prove it.” 

He looked back over his shoulder with an amused frown, “Really?” 

“Yes, but turn around.” She made a circular motion with her finger, “I don’t want you to get blinded.” 

He scoffed but turned his back. 

Aquarius took a deep breath a slipped her white toga around her shoulder down her back revealing her backless dress. She felt the four areas on her back where her wings appear begin to tingle. She had to admit the process of summoning her wings was a bit painful, having them just rip out of her back instead just appearing like Odine’s. 

It was bearable now, as she felt her skin rip apart as the four golden-white wings appeared. She closed her eyes as the blinding light took full form, she felt the blood run down her back, but she looked back up at the man with a smile. 

“See?” 

The man turned back around, his smirk dropping as soon as he saw the wings. His mouth fell open and his trembling body froze in shock. 

“Angels are real?” Was all he could say. 

“Only myself and my husband,” She responded, “But yes.” She leaned her head down and clasped her hands together in an apologetic stance, doing her best to bow while supporting the weight of her wings, “I’m so sorry if I offended you in any way! This is my first time interacting with humans and I do not know what I’m doing!” 

“Ohh, uhh...” He lowered his head and bowed back at her, “It’s alright. I just get protective over my family.” Aquarius just got a hint of his face growing red, which made her feel a bit better and over her ‘sickness’. 

Aquarius folded her wings back into her body, stumbling over her feet at the loss of the weight before she looked back up at the still shocked man. “Can you please explain what ‘died’ means?” She asked. “I understand it makes you unhappy,” She brushed a strand of blue hair that fell out of her bun out of her face as she spoke, “But I’m curious.” 

The man nodded softly before he walked back towards the stone plates with his family’s names on them. “Well, they died, so... It means they are no longer alive.” He muttered. 

“Not alive?” She asked, turning back at the stones, her eyes suddenly wide with realization. “But that can’t be right. That means they were alive, but they no longer are.” 

The man nodded, sniffing and wiping away the tears that never left his eyes. 

“But this one right here!” She pointed at the stone that read ‘Natsu Dragneel’, “This one says that they would’ve only been three! Humans age, which means that they were-” 

“They aren’t coming back.” The man spat out a cry, dropping to his knees. “I’ve studied for years! I’ve practiced necromancy, but nothing’s worked!” 

Aquarius shook as the weight of ‘death’ set on her. “Do all humans ‘died’?” 

“Eventually.” He whispered. “But my family was taken from me.” 

They both cried in silence for what seemed like hours, the sun setting before the tears stopped. The man finally looked over at the Angel, but froze still when he saw what she was doing. 

In the time that they sat in silence, she had re-summoned her wings and was currently beating a rock against a singular feather, crushing it up into golden dust. 

“What are you doing?” He sniffed. 

“I’ve done this back at home,” She answered, “When human world plants begin to droop, I crush up my feathers. The plants always spring back up.” 

Her loose bun had nearly fallen out now, giving the man a clear view at how long her hair truly was. It draped over her body and onto the ground, all the way down, it probably would’ve reached down her back if she was sitting up straight. Her hair was bright blue, but it grew a bit darker at the ends. 

“Why?” 

“I have no idea,” She replied, not taking her eyes off the feather, “Maybe it’s because my husband cr-” 

“Why are you trying to help me?” The man demanded, grabbing at her arm, blocking the rock with his hand. 

Aquarius blinked at him in surprise, “You said you did everything you could, but they couldn’t come back.” She looked down at the feather and then back up at him, “I thought I could do something.” 

“Why?” He cried, resting his forehead against her own, causing her face to heat up again. “You don’t have to do that. Everyone, for so long, has told me to give up, to move on. So why would you just help?” 

“Because I don’t like the ‘died’, thing.” She replied, her eyes watering with tears. “The Celestial world has always known about this? They’ve let it happen even though we could help! It’s not fair! I’ll rip out all my feathers if I have too! I don’t want any other human to ‘died’ ever again!” She sobbed.

* * *

  
The year X406, the Angel dressed in black touched down in the cemetery. She immediately made eye contact with that same man from a year ago, and through his deceitful gaze, she could see right through his lies. He was smiling even though he had such mournful eyes. 

“Aquarius,” The man smiled, “Glad to see that you made it back safely.” 

“Thanks, Zeref.” Aquarius answered back. 

She made her way over to the gravesite where Zeref sat with their Demons. 

After discovering the magical abilities of Aquarius’s feathers, combined with Zeref’s knowledge of Ethernano, Zeref and Aquarius were able to successfully bring back Zeref’s younger brother, Natsu, but were unsuccessful in bringing back his parents. During the Dragon Raid on their hometown, Katsumi and Mitya Dragneel's bodies were never recovered, which meant they had been fully cremated from the Dragon’s flames. 

They attempted to bring back other people from Zeref’s town as well, as test-subjects for Natsu. They were successfully able to bring back six “demons” before Natsu, and they were recorded in a book Zeref created the Book of E.N.D., which stood for ‘Etherious Natsu Dragneel’. Each of the Etherious had human-like disguises, some looking more human than others, but naturally had horns, sharp teeth, or other unhuman attributes. 

An unnamed little boy was their first Etherious, around the same age as Natsu. Aquarius gave him the name Larcade. He had spiky light blonde hair and orange eyes. 

The next was Mard Geer Tartaros, a young man who was about 27 years old. He had long dark purple hair that he tied up into a loose ponytail and striking red eyes. 

Kyôka and Seliah were the next two. 

Kyôka was a young woman around her early 20s. She had short, spiky green hair and blue eyes, and she had a feather-like pattern on her forehead, just over each eye. 

Seliah was also a young woman around her early 20s. She had long purple hair and dark blue eyes, and she had two golden horns on each side of her head pointing upwards. 

Jackal was a strange case. Living up to his name, the Etherious possessed a number of animal features. He had dark blond hair that came down to his shoulders and covered his left eye, that hadn’t formed properly. He had two ears on the top on his head, and a furry tail. He had fangs and slitted eyes, and his forearms and legs were painted black ending in claws. 

Tempester was their fifth, a dark-skinned man with neck-length blond hair and green eyes. He was the oldest of Etherious. 

And finally, there was Natsu himself. He had pink hair and green eyes, similar to Zeref’s, and he also had freckles covering his cheeks and nose. 

Natsu was different from the other Etherious, though. The other Etherious came out functioning normally, though a bit hazy in the memory department, Natsu was almost a blank slate. He hardly ever spoke and only stared blankly when spoken too. 

It broke Zeref’s heart to not have the same little brother, but Natsu was slowly getting better over time. Aquarius was able to bring him out of his haze, giving him more feathers and allowing him to bask in the healing properties of her wings in general. 

Natsu was still quiet, but he was better now. He clung to both Zeref and Aquarius, as well as the Etherious demons who were adults. He and Larcade fought like brothers, which made Zeref a bit sad, but he was glad he was starting to behave like his old self again. 

The Etherious were gathered under a tree where Zeref sat, Larcade and Natsu in the laps of Seliah and Kyôka respectively, listening to Zeref read a book to them. He wanted to teach them magic, but the children were less than interested.   
“Larcade, please.” Zeref groaned, watching Kyôka trying to pry him off her head. 

“I never agreed to babysitting!” Kyôka snarled, grabbing at the young boy who continuously kicked at her forehead. 

“You have to be gentle, Kyô," Seliah smiled softly, reaching over and taking her girlfriend’s hand in her’s while slowly rocking Natsu in her lap, “They respond better that way, right?” She looked down at Natsu, who nodded softly. 

“Larcade, Zeref’s trying really hard.” Aquarius chuckled, walking up on the group, tucking her wings away. “The most you could do is pay attention.” 

“Aqua!” Natsu shouted happily. He jumped out of Seliah’s lap, bouncing off of her head and into Aquarius’s arms. “Missed!” 

“I missed you too,” Aquarius chuckled, ruffling Natsu’s hair. 

“Ha!” Jackal spat, “Get owned, Sel!” 

Seliah’s bottom lip turned into a pout as she rubbed the spot where Natsu hit between her horns. Kyôka reached over and pulled Seliah into a side hug as Larcade jumped up to attach himself to Aquarius’s leg. 

“And that’ll conclude today’s lesson.” Zeref sighed, leaning back against the tree in defeat. 

“Sorry, Zeref.” Aquarius smiled awkwardly. 

“Hey, Mama?” Larcade asked, looking up at Aquarius with a questioning glance. 

“’Ma-mama’?” Aquarius flushed red at his addressal of her, but shook it off, “Ye-yes?” 

“Are you and Daddy married?” The little boy asked. 

Aquarius looked down at him, confused. “Who’s ‘Daddy’?” 

Zeref slowly raised his hand, his freckled cheeks flushed pink, “Given our circumstances, I think he means me.” 

“Are?” Natsu’s quiet voice asked. 

Aquarius looked down at the two little boys in her arms, a bit upset that they had bombarded her with their questions. “N-no, we’re not married.” She stated firmly, placing both boys down gently. 

“Why?” Natsu asked, reaching back up at her, wanting to be back in her arms. 

“Yeah!” Larcade jumped in, “You have your hair up! That means you're married! So why not you and Daddy married?” 

Aquarius scratched at the back of her bare neck, wearing a sad smile. “It’s a little complicated.” 

“Daddy!” Larcade demanded, whirling around to look at Zeref. 

Zeref had his face buried behind the book he was previously trying to teach from, obviously wanting nothing to do with the conversation at hand. 

It wasn’t as though Zeref wasn’t fond of Aquarius, he actually like her quite a bit. Perhaps he even had a bit of a crush on her, but it didn’t matter. 

For starters, she was married. A symbol of women’s commitment to their spouses resided in their hair. Having long hair and tying the hair above their shoulders showed that she was married or was engaged to be, silently letting all other people know she’s unavailable. 

Second, Aquarius was an Angel, why would she even bother settling for him in the first place. It was ridiculous! 

“Zeref?” 

Aquarius’s soft voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him back into reality. 

“Huh?” He looked at her than around for the Etherious, but they were nowhere to be found. “Where did-” 

“Mard Geer transported them somewhere where they could practice their magic.” Aquarius responded, sliding down the bark of the tree next to him. “He said we needed to talk.” 

“Do we?” Zeref asked, looking away from her. 

“Do we?” She repeated softly, her finger playing with a piece of hair that had fallen out of her bun. 

Zeref looked back at her with a confused look, taking in every part of her beautiful face. Her eyes were a light blue, and had long dark blue eyelashes framing them. Her lips were a light pink, puffed out as she muttered to herself under her breath. 

“Why did you come back?” He asked. 

“What?” Aquarius looked back over at the black-haired man, questioningly. 

“You didn’t need too. You helped me bring back my little brother, but you didn’t need too. Then you kept coming back, helping the Etherious adjust to being semi-alive again. You became like a mother to them, but you didn’t need too!” 

Zeref reached into his pocket and pulled out a fist full of stainless white feathers. Despite being in his pocket, the feathers remained unruffled, as perfect as they were when Aquarius plucked them. 

“You even gave me some feathers to keep going when you’re gone, but you didn’t have too!” His eyes were beginning to water.   
“I-I already told you,” Aquarius muttered, “I don’t like death. It’s unfair that humans die, especially when it's something they can’t control, like aging!” She smiled at him, “Besides, they’re my family now. You, me, and the Etherious are like some strange family. More than anything my husband has ever been to me in over four hundred years.” 

“Is it really just that?” Zeref accused. “Or is it just because you felt bad for me?” 

Aquarius looked away from him, feeling her own eyes begin to water, “It’s not that I pitied you... I just wanted to help...” She looked back at him, grabbing at his collar and slamming him back against the tree. “Isn’t that a good thing? I helped you because I cared! I still do...” 

Zeref’s hand somehow found its way onto her cheek, brushing away the tears he had brought out with his thumb.   
And somehow, Aquarius’s hand found its way on his, stroking his hand with her thumb. 

Zeref’s lips somehow found their way against Aquarius’s, who in turn kissed him back. Zeref had found himself longing for the taste of her soft pink lips, feeling the chapped yet somehow still soft lips against his. To realize he had a longing and craving for her taste, his body felt starved. His arms were around her, her's around him. The world around them disappeared, falling away into obscurity as they felt a burning love neither of them realized was there, being expressed by their lips without words. 

Despite his wishes to keep going with his exploration of her kiss, he pulled away from her suddenly. “No,” he whispered, “This is wrong.” 

Aquarius’s face was twisted in guilt as she nodded her head, tears streaming down her cheeks suddenly. “I know, but...” 

Zeref leaned forward to push the Angel away from him, but she didn’t budge. 

“Have you ever been in a loveless marriage?” She whimpered. 

Zeref opened his mouth to requip back some snarky remark against her but decided against it. 

“The truth is, Odine was the only true Angel to ever exist.” Aquarius explained tearfully. “He created me for the sole purpose of having a wife. I’m nothing but his toy! We meet up once a month and then he casts me aside.” 

“But, you’re magic-” 

“I pale in comparison to him! He could probably bring back humans after they died without the Etheonano and his feathers, but he doesn’t! He believes humans are inferior to him, which is why he forbade me from ever coming here! 

But then I did, and I-I met you, and for the first time in centuries I’ve felt like I have a real purpose! I love our Demons, I love the life we have here, I love you!” She sobbed, resting her head against his chest. “I have no idea what to do, now...” 

“Aquarius,” Zeref hushed, stroking her head softly before pulling away as her hair suddenly fell out of the bun she had tied, her long hair spilling down her back. “Oh gods, I didn’t mean too-” 

“That’s it,” Aquarius declared brightly, suddenly sitting up and throwing her head backwards with a glorious smile, “I’ll just leave.” 

“Leave?” Zeref asked. 

“I hate it there,” She nodded, “So why not? I’ll spend all my time here, on Earthland, with you and our Demons!” 

“You’d really do that?” Zeref asked, wiping away her tears. “Even though I’ll die someday?” 

Aquarius nodded, “I’ll just bring you back when you do.” She placed her forehead against his. “So, we’ll always be together.” 

“I’d like that, Aqua.” Zeref smiled, kissing her cheek. “But it can’t be that easy. To just leave like that.” 

“Maybe not, but I don’t care. I’ll do whatever I have too.”

* * *

  
“King Odine!” Aquarius bowed, walking into the throne room. 

“Aquarius!” Odine smiled, resting his head on his fist as he waved in the bluette. “I didn’t expect to see you here, doll.” 

“Your Majesty?” Asked Lyra, who was kneeling at the feet of the huge monarch. 

His eyes flicked down towards the small key, “What? Ohh, go I don’t care.” He rolled his eyes. 

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” The harp spirit bowed, and exited the room of the palace. 

“You know,” Odine slurred, lifting Aquarius off her feet and onto the armrest of the golden throne, “Giving the groundlings permission to go to the earth is supposed to be your job.” 

“I know.” Aquarius muttered, shrugging of his hand and looking up at him. 

“So why aren’t you doing it?” He growled. 

“That’s what I came to talk about.” 

“Did you now?”

* * *

  
“Natsu, get off of Larcade, please.” Zeref sighed, closing his book to break up the wrestling demons. 

“He started it!” Larcade argued, pulling on the pink-haired boy’s cheeks as he kicked at his stomach. 

“I’m going to end it!” Zeref grunted, grabbing his younger brother under his arms. “Come on, Natsu, get off.” 

“No!” 

“Natsu!” 

“No!” 

Blood spattered from Zeref’s mouth as a magical beam cut through his chest. 

“Zerv!” Natsu screamed, racing over to his brother, but was pulled away by Mard Geer, his eyes wide in fear.   
“Lord Zeref?” He whispered. 

“Get... Them out...” Zeref gurgled. 

“I got them!” Kyôka yelled, holding a bag tight against her chest. “Mard, get us to safety!” She raced over to the boys, grabbing Larcade’s hand and vanishing in a cloud of magic. 

“So, you’re the human who stole my wife?” Odine touched down on the earth. 

Zeref’s eyes slowly took in the giant spirit, his vision starting to blur. 

“She told me you were interested in ending human death?” He chuckled. “The great gift of the spirits?” 

Zeref fought against the pull of his consciousness but he could feel it slipping. This was death? It came sooner than expected, but it was alright. The Etherious would bring him back eventually, that being hopefully Aquarius hadn’t spoke of their creation. Or, he’d be able to finally see his parents again. 

“I guess you won’t be able to answer me like this.” Odine rolled his eyes. “Fine! I will give you the exact opposite of my gift!” 

Zeref’s body began to illuminate in a golden light, his body beginning to heal. His consciousness came back in full, and he felt the hole drilled through his stomach begin to sew itself up. 

“You will live forever, human.” Odine explained. “But, everyone around you will die. That is my gift to you. The gift of Ankhseram!” 

Zeref gagged on his blood, desperate to fight back, but the spirit disappeared as fast as he appeared.   
  
“You monster!” Aquarius screamed, clutching at the open wounds on her back as blood ran down her. 

“I did what I had too.” Odine snarled, throwing aside the four angel wings he had torn from her flesh. “If you want to be whored out to the humans like the groundlings, so be it!”   
“What are you talking about?” 

A blue tornado of magic whirled around her legs and she immediately knew something was wrong. Her legs began to pull together, as if they were getting sewn together with an oversized needle. Her toes were being stretched, pulled out and sewn together into fins. It pain was almost unbearable, causing Aquarius's vision to blur with exhaustion and defeat, but Odine wanted to keep her awake. When the smoke cleared, her bottom half had transformed into a fin, making her a mermaid. 

“What the hell?” She screamed in agony. 

Odine held up a golden key with two blue waves engraved on the handle. “I’m creating a new line of keys.” He explained, “And you will be the first.” 

Aquarius’s breath caught in her throat, she desperately tried to crawl away from him, but golden chains sprouted out of the key, wrapping around her arms. The chains led up to the key before disappearing, leaving handcuff like bracelets around her wrists. 

“You are now Aquarius the Water-Barer.” Odine cackled. “We have 12 unclaimed constellations in our sky, I created you from one of them. The others will be born from the Earth, from the humans you've come to love so dear. Powerful wizards who are unjustly killed in battle will become the Zodiac."

“And you’re going to imprison them for all eternity?” Aquarius grunted out, her physical form beginning to fizzle out, the constellation she was born from was starting to pull her back for rejuvenation. 

“No. Unlike you, they will be given 12 lives. 12 opportunities to regenerate before they are reincarnated into the next dead, worthy wizard.” 

Aquarius was staring at her wrists, her eyes brimming with tears. "So they are just another punishment for me?"

"Of course they are, my dear." He smiled maliciously, "You'll grow fond of them eventually, but you'll have to say goodbye. Just as with the wizards who will own you."

"What do you do to Zeref?"

"Who?"

"The love of my life!" Aquarius screamed, pounding her fists into the ground. "What do you do to him?"

The Celestial Spirit King refused an answer. He held up her key and sparked it with magic, causing the chains around her wrists to tighten and pull her against the floor. The fresh wounds from where her wings used to be spiked in pain, causing her to scream out.


End file.
